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Blue Jays legend Jose Bautista attends the Canadian Futures Showcase

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Sep 22 2023, 9:28 pm
Blue Jays legend Jose Bautista attends the Canadian Futures Showcase
@BlueJays/X | Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Players and fans alike got a special surprise at the Canadian Futures Showcase on Friday, as former Toronto Blue Jays superstar Jose Bautista was in attendance.

The biggest amateur tournament in Canada is undergoing its ninth annual go-round. The showcase has been going on at Rogers Centre since Tuesday and continues through the day tomorrow, but with Bautista in attendance, there was no doubt that Saturday was the biggest of the event.

“A surprise guest at the Canadian Futures Showcase,” the team posted on X this afternoon. “Blue Jays LEGEND Jose Bautista.”

While this may have been a small thing for Bautista, you can see how much it meant to the kids participating in the tournament. Several were quick to go up and introduce themselves to the 42-year-old, while a number of others looked too stunned to speak.

It wasn’t the first time Bautista has been in Rogers Centre this season, as he was honoured last month by being placed on the Blue Jays Level of Excellence. Bautista played a total of 1,235 games for the team, and sits second in franchise history for home runs with 288, trailing only Carlos Delgado. His 766 RBIs rank third, behind Vernon Wells and Delgado.

The Canadian Futures Showcase is hosted by the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy, with its goal to display the talent of young athletes who are both draft and college-eligible. The event helps expose them to both college and MLB recruiters. Since 2013, there have been 117 participants that have been drafted into the MLB, while more than 600 have received college scholarships.

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